That 80's Show
by merody.c
Summary: My own take of what happens in the start of the 80's.


**Background information for anyone who hasn't seen That 70's Show: It's about a group of teenagers growing up in the 70s. The series ended with the New Year's Eve countdown at the Forman's house. Eric, who was Donna's ex-boyfriend and someone she's lived next door and known practically her whole life, came back after a whole season of being away in Africa for a teaching certification. Jackie, who is the youngest of them, had dated two of the other members of the gang and is now dating the Foreign Exchange Student, Fez, who had been pining for her throughout the series.**

 **I'm trying to turn this into a kind of a continuation after the series ended, so this is the start of it. Hopefully, as I write, you guys kind of get an idea of what happened throughout the series before it ended. Anything else that I write going forward will be posted on for the public to read.**

The gang had just done the countdown and welcomed the start of the 80's. They all sat in the Forman's living room as Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve played in the background.

Bob patted Eric on the shoulder, "It's good to see you again, Eric. We've missed you."

"Thank you, sir. It is good to be home," Eric replied as he pulled a smiling Donna closer. Eric was enlightened by Bob's words since Donna gave up going to college for him and he ran out on her the day before their wedding.

"How was it while you were there? How did you like the teaching experience?" Bob asked.

"It was a great teaching experience. At first, it took some adjusting, but I loved the people there. They were so welcoming and the kids, goodness, the kids. They were the best. They were so eager to learn every day, and their passion to learn only pushed me into wanting to become a better teacher when I came home."

Eric was so excited as he talked about his trip that even Red couldn't help but compliment him, "Well, son. I'm happy that you finally found something that you're good at. It took a while, but you did it, and I'm proud of you."

Eric smiled at his dad and nodded, "Thank you, dad."

Kitty smiled in glee as well, "Oh, look at you two getting along! With you being away for so long, Eric, you and your father will get along even better than before now! Ooh, I've even reset up your room and gotten everything ready for you."

Eric looked at his mom in confusion, "Reset up my room? Shouldn't it have already been set up when I left?"

"Oh, well you know, I was so upset with you about going to Africa that I turned your room into a crafting room for one of my gloomy days, but it's okay because now you're back and I don't need needle point therapy anymore!" Kitty cackled.

"Um… Okay, then." There wasn't much Eric could say to his mother about that so he trailed off, "So Fez, you finally got the girl, huh?" he looked at Jackie.

"Yes," Fez lisped, "I used to have to hear about Hyde and Kelso talking about doing it with Jackie, but now it will be my turn!"

Donna disgustingly looked at him, "That's not a good thing, Fez. Also, now that you have her, you shouldn't even want to do that. She hated when Kelso would brag about their sex life."

"This is true. Steven never did it, unless I wasn't around, which is okay because I used to just pretend that he was talking about how beautiful and amazing I was to him," Jackie blabbed.

Kelso did his goofy laugh, "I did it way more than Hyde, even after we were broken up because I knew it would piss him off."

"Michael, you're disgusting," Jackie scolded, "Now that I'm no longer a dopey high school teenager, I'm actually happy that we broke up when we did. Steven, I appreciated you so much for not having talked about our sex life in front of our friends."

Hyde started to chime in after sipping his beer, "Yeah, if it only mattered now, but because Fez is my bud, I won't brag. Just for him," Hyde gave his little snarky smile.

Red looked at all of them, "Alright, if you dumbasses are going to just blab about nonsense. Go somewhere else. You dope heads, in my living room, talking about how you've all dated Jackie is information that we don't need to know."

Kelso looked at Red, and took a sip of his beer, "Welcome to the '80s, Red."

The gang sat at the booth at the Hub as they munched on fries, chips, hot dogs, and bottled cola.

"Oh, my god. It feels so good to be home," Eric moaned as he popped another fry in his mouth, "You don't understand how much I craved fries from The Hub while I was in Africa."

Donna took one of Kelso's chips as she asked, "What did you eat while you were Africa? Did they not have a McDonald's or something there?"

Eric took a sip of soda and shrugged, "I never really looked around, because I was afraid to get eaten by a rhinoceros, but the food there wasn't bad, but it wasn't home, y'know?"

"Well, we're happy you're home now, Eric," Jackie chimed in and smiled at Eric.

"Yeah, it's been weird not having that annoying droning noise of someone blabbing about Star Wars," Kelso added.

Hyde bit into his hot dog, "Yeah, no one's even touched your models in the basement that they started to collect dust. Your mom occasionally dusted, but she'd start crying every time she did, so Red and I had to hide them."

"Where did you guys hide them?" Eric was worried when he asked this. He was suddenly fearful for the models that he had dedicated endless hours, tears, sweats, and booboos building in the basement.

"Don't worry, man. They're in the safe hands of the Point Place Waste Disposal," Hyde nodded.

"What? Hyde, are you serious? C'mon, man. I was looking forward to my models while I was in Africa. You know how much Africa sucked?"

Everybody looked at him confused now so Donna said, "Eric, you said that Africa was an amazing experience,"

"No, I said teaching the kids there was an amazing experience. Africa, itself, was horrible. I spent every week walking and roaming in different directions trying to find a store that would possibly sell any comics, action figures, models… Anything and would always return to my bunk, disappointed."

Hyde asked, "You went to Africa to look for toys?"

Hyde is all for letting out your childlike wonder, but something about Eric's obsession for action figures, comics, and Star Wars was just weird to him. It probably had a lot to do with how he's practically 20 years old and still a momma's boy.

Fez sighed and said, "You Americans are so privileged. Back in my country, my only entertainment were sticks and stones by the creek."

Everyone looked at Fez and kind of looked around thinking in their heads, "Here we go."

Fez continued, "Oh, and one time, I found a frog so I tried to make him be my transportation guy to help me move my sticks and rocks… But I guess one of the rocks were too heavy, because he buckled and fell flat."

The gang just stare at their Foreign friend and pursed their lips.

Jackie sympathized for her boyfriend, "Aww, poor Fezzie. It must be hard to have been raised in such a god awful third world country."

Fez took advantage of it, "Yes, it was such a sad time. I remember I molded a beautiful swan out of mud for my mother and the waves of the creek washed it away before she could see it."

Jackie clutched her chest, "You poor thing… But if you ever make me a mud swan, I will leave you. It's a crystal swan or nothing."

Fez smiled at Jackie, "You deserve all the diamonds and crystals in the world, my dear."

Eric looked at them and scrunched his face, "This is actually pretty weird for me. I think where I left off with Jackie's dating life was Hyde marrying a stripper after catching Jackie and Kelso about to do it. I actually want to know what happened with that."

This was all brand-new to him. Eric was just getting adjusted to Hyde dating Jackie after Jackie having been with Kelso for the past five years and suddenly he has to get used to Jackie and Fez. What the hell else had he missed while he was gone?

Hyde shrugged, "There's not much to know."

Kelso raised his hand obnoxiously, "Ooh, I want to tell this story! So Jackie and I totally did it after Hyde caught us—"

"No, Michael, we didn't," Jackie interrupted.

"Alright, hush. This is my story so I get to tell it the way I want to… Anyway, when he got home from running off to Vegas, apparently he had married a stripper named Samantha. My god, she was hot. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a tight little body," Kelso's mouth was starting to hang open as he thought about Samantha possibly stripping for him.

Hyde looked at Kelso in disgust, "Kelso, you've got a little drool on your chin, and…" and he punched Kelso in the arm, "If you're going to tell the story, tell the story, you moron."

Donna, annoyed with Kelso, interrupted "No, I'll tell it… So your parents got so sick of the arguing and fighting that they decided to give Hyde and Sam a talking to just to find out the only reason they argued so much was to give their sex life more excitement. So that went on for a while and then at some point, some old guy, Larry, pops into the basement and we find out that he's already married to Sam, making Hyde and Sam's marriage illegitimate. So they broke up and now we're here.".

Eric's eyes popped a little, "Wow, seems like I missed quite a bit. Okay, so then I want to know how Jackie and Fez wound up together. Jackie, I thought you found Fez to be too foreign and revolting."

Jackie shrugged, "I did, but after Fez and I moved in together after Michael left, I started noticing Fez was everything I wanted, but because I was always so focused on everything else, it passed me by."

That still didn't quite add up to him, but he didn't want to start Jackie's mouth so instead he asked, "And Hyde, Kelso, you're okay with this?"

Abruptly Kelso had his two cents, "I mean it's Fez, he's so short and chunky. I know Jackie will always find me to be the hottest of three, or come to me if she needs some good loving up," he winked and clicked his tongue at Jackie who cringed.

Hyde scrunched his face looking at Kelso and rolled eyes his eyes, "And as for me, it's been some time already and we both already agreed that things are fine the way they are, so we'll leave it as it is. She's got her own thing going on and Fez is a good guy."

Jackie looked amazed at Hyde, "Really? That's how you feel? Thank you, Steven."

Hyde shrugged and sipped his soda.

Fez put his arm around Jackie and said aloud, "So, Eric, now that you're back and I assume you and Donna are an item again… What are on your agendas?"

Eric and Donna looked at each other before Eric asked, "Uh, I'm not sure. Did you have any plans before I spontaneously showed up at the driveway?"

Donna laughed, "It wasn't really all that spontaneous because we were expecting you home already, but like I said, I start college next week so I'll just be doing that. If I can, maybe do Hot Donna while at UW."

Eric nodded, "But where will that leave us?"

Donna shrugged at Eric because she honestly hadn't thought about what would happen if or when she saw Eric and where that would leave them.

"Eric, I'm happy you came home and I'm happy that we got back together, but I really didn't think much about the possibility of us getting back together. Also, I don't feel comfortable talking about this in front of all our friends, so can we wait until later?"

Eric, feeling kind of hurt, got up with his coat, "That's great. I need some air."

As he walked out of The Hub, Donna watched him with their friends sitting there uncomfortably.

"Thanks for coming over and helping me pack, you guys," Bob thanked the Formans.

"Oh, it's no problem at all. We're happy to help," Kitty giving Bob a pat on his shoulder.

"I'm not. You dragged me here," groaned Red.

Bob ignored Red, "I was wondering if you could help me pack away these dishes. I wanted to make sure Donna had some for when she goes away to Madison, but I don't know how many she would need. And Red, I need help taking apart some of the appliances I have here, and I figured you could help me decide which ones I should take with me and which ones I should let Donna take to school."

"Do you know how big of a place Donna will be staying at?" Red asked.

"I rented her out an apartment out there because I figured it would be cheaper than paying for dorm,"

"Say no more," Kitty said as she started wrapping dishes up in newspaper, "Bob, I can't believe after all these years, you're going to sell the house," Kitty weeped as she packed a few dishes already wrapped away in a box.

"I know. Lots of memories in this house; Midgie and I throwing our nudist parties, Joanne and I doing our body paints, and all the times that Donna walked in on me and Pam-"

"Okay, stop right there," Red interrupted putting his hand up to indicate STOP, "We don't want to know all the indecent things you have done in this house over the years. You can keep that to yourself."

Bob chucked, "I guess some things are better left to the imagination, eh, Red?"

"Yeah, but what shouldn't be left to the imagination is my foot going up your ass if you don't cut it out."

Kitty laughed, "Oh, don't mind Red too much, Bob," she leaned over and whispered to him, "He's having a hard time coming to terms that he'll no longer have you around."

Red rolled his eyes as Bob smiled at Red and chuckled, "I'll miss you too, Red."

"She's lying to you. I cannot wait for you to stop coming over and eating my food and drinking my beer."

Kitty gave Red a swat on the arm, "Red, be nice."

Bob put a hand on Kitty's shoulder, "It's okay, Kitty. I've actually grown to accept Red's ridicule. It'll be missed when I'm away in sunny Florida where it'll be nothing but sunshine and sandy beaches."

Kitty could already imagine it, "Oh, that sounds so nice. I really did want to move down there with you, but I can't just bear to sell the house. Plus, Eric is home now."

Bob nodded at Kitty in understanding, "It's okay, Kitty. Whenever you and Red want, you guys can come down to Florida and stay at the condo with me and we'll have some drinks at the beach."

Red shook his head, "No. I'm not having drinks at the beach where sand can get in my crack and I have to see a bunch of horny teenagers gawking at teenage girls in their bikinis."

Kitty pursed her lips, "That is rather unsanitary, but we'll definitely take you up on that offer, Bob."

Bob smiled in cheeriness, "Okay, do you mind help me packing some stuff away in the living room too?"

"Happy to help!" Kitty pepped.

Walking into the record store with Donna, Hyde said, "Donna, man, you didn't once mention to Forman about what you did while he was gone. Of course he didn't realize you would make plans that went beyond things that included him. Like when you dated Randy," Hyde paused and turned around to face Donna, "Have you even told him about Randy yet?"

"I want to, but I haven't had the chance to, and I don't know how he'll react to it."

"What does it matter? He's going to find out eventually and wouldn't it better for you to tell him yourself than for him to find out while you're away at school?"

"Yeah, I guess… But we're already not in a good place after he left The Hub so I'm going to have to wait for that to blow over first," Donna moaned. This was all beyond what she even thought about. She wasn't even supposed to be there when Eric came home, much less where she is right now.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Donna asked, "So why did you want me to come down to the record store?"

"Oh, because I didn't get you a going-away gift, so I thought I'd bring you down to the store and let you choose your gift."

"Really? Hyde, that's so great of you. What are my options?"

"Whatever you want, man. Whatever you pick, I'm including this record player," he pointed at a used record player behind the register.

"You're giving me a record player?" Donna crossed her arms and looked at Hyde questioningly, "I already have one in my room."

"Yeah, well I bought a new one for the store and didn't want to quite throw it away yet, so I thought you'd have it. You can keep the other one too, but I figured this could be a back-up in case your other one breaks. Seeing as the other one is rather old."

"Hyde, that's so sweet. Thank you," Donna smiled and hugged Hyde.

Just as Donna and Hyde release, Randy came from the back office.

"Donna," Randy said surprisingly.

"I'll be in my office," Hyde walked into where Randy emerged.

Randy slowly walked up to Donna, "I thought you left already."

"I was supposed to leave yesterday, but I stayed to see Eric for a bit. I leave in a few days though."

"I understand," Randy nodded, "So are you and Eric back together?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Donna smiled nervously as Randy nodded again to that, "Look, Randy, I'm sorry things didn't work out—"

"No, I completely understand," Randy interrupted, "You're going to be away with Eric in Madison, and I'm happy for you."

"Actually, Eric isn't going with me. I didn't intend to be here when Eric came home and I didn't include him in my plans so we're trying to figure that out."

"But I don't understand," Randy looked confused at Donna, "You broke up with me because you didn't want to do the long distance thing."

Donna couldn't quite think of a way to justify her reasoning for this, "It's not that I didn't want to do the long distance thing. I just… I wanted to get out of Point Place, and staying with you while being away, I wouldn't have been able to invest myself into this relationship, and it wouldn't have been fair for you."

"What?" came a familiar voice behind Donna.

"Eric," Donna said as she turned around to face him.

"Donna, who is this guy?"

Randy took a step forward to Eric and put his hand out, "I'm Randy. I work here at Grooves."

Eric absent-mindedly took his hand and shook it, "Hey, yeah, so… You went out with Donna?"

"Uh, yeah, just for a few months though, but she broke up with me."

Eric nodded and laughed nervously, "Oh, okay, um, when was this?"

Donna looked nervously at Randy and then Eric before she spoke up, "It was actually only a few days ago that it happened."

"Wait, what?" Eric asked a little too loudly, "Donna, you didn't think to tell me about this?

Donna shrugged and defended herself, "Eric, you broke up with me while you were away in Africa. The last thing I wanted to do was talk to you about this when you didn't even seem to think about me when you decided to break up with me through a letter."

Donna was mad now that she was even put into a position where she needed to defend herself.

"That is totally different!" Eric said trying to make it sound as though it were through no fault of his own.

Donna crossed her arms as she took a step forward to Eric, "No, Eric, it's not. You don't know how bad it hurt for you to break up with me. I was literally going to wait for you and I honestly could have gone to school while you were gone because I didn't even know when you were going to come home, if ever."

"Donna—"

"No, Randy was there for me. He listened to me, he brought me things that made me feel better, and he hung out with me to take time off things. No one in the gang could have helped because as I told Jackie and Hyde, she would have hurt my feelings and he would have just gave me a shrug and nothing would have made me feel better," she took a deep breath, "Okay, now I'm done."

Sliding past Donna, Randy said to Eric, "If it makes you feel any better, man, I heard a lot about you. She really loved you. Your friends and family really care about you, and if Donna and I were still together, I don't think I would have felt like I could compete."

Eric was amazed by what he just heard from this tall, well-built pretty boy that he thought he could never in a million years compete with, "Wow, really?" which quickly changed to, "I mean, yeah, of course. You back off my woman."

He tried to make himself sound tough again to show that he was the man, but he was overcome with his initial intention to come here, "Donna, I didn't come here to fight some more—or over you. I called everyone to see where you were and Hyde told me he'd be at Grooves with you."

Randy watched the two with their interactions with his arms crossed, paying attention to what was going on. Eric turned to Randy and looked at him.

"Uh, can you give Donna and me a moment to talk?" Eric asked.

Randy ran his fingers through his hair, "Yeah, sure thing," and made his way through the store door.

Eric continued, "Look, when you said that you were starting college next week, I didn't even think about how much I hurt you and… It's my fault, but I assumed that your plans included me because we always talked about going to UW away together."

"I understand, but you left me to go to Africa. You broke up with me through a letter and if it weren't for Randy, I would have no consolation whatsoever. After that, I couldn't include you in my plans anymore because I didn't know when you were coming home and you just weren't a sure thing anymore."

Eric put his hands in his pocket because he understood the hurt he put Donna through, "I can't say anything other than 'I'm sorry,' because I really am. Your plans may not have included me but all my plans for when I came back definitely included you. I just didn't feel like it was fair for you to wait around for me while I was away."

Donna pursed her lips, "So you broke up with me because you thought you knew what I wanted, but then you're going to get all butt-hurt to find out that I dated outside of you?" She paused for a moment, "How is this any different than that time you went out with the Slurpee slut and I didn't find out until way later?"

"That's different! We went on one date and you were with Casey Kelso!"

Donna was starting to get mad, "Regardless, you didn't tell me until after that awkward encounter!"

Eric really couldn't defend himself in this situation anymore, "Again, all I can tell you is that 'I'm sorry."

Donna shook her head, "I don't know what to do about this. I want to be mad at you for so many reasons, but there would be no point since I'm leaving anyway."

Eric took a deep breath, trying to think of a way to fix everything, "What if… I came with you to UW? And found a teaching job in Madison?"

She wasn't expecting him to have come up with an idea so quickly. She wasn't expecting him to come along, but she wanted him to come along, but was thinking about all the things that could go wrong.

They intended on living together when they were going to go to UW for college after graduation, but it was different because they were engaged. They're not this time and everything felt uncertain to Donna.

She was battling with this suggestion in her head and couldn't come to a decision, "I'll think about it, but you have to be able to find a job first."

Eric pointed his finger in agreement and understanding and they made their way out of Grooves.

Kelso, Fez, and Jackie were in the basement hanging out and watching TV.

Fez had his arm around Jackie with her head on his shoulder when Kelso asked, "Have you guys done it yet?"

Fez and Jackie looked at Kelso and then back at each other.

"Michael, where did that question even come from?" Jackie asked.

Kelso looked at the two and shrugged, "I don't know. Just thought I should ask since Fez is a horny little foreigner and Jackie, coming from the person who has pleased you sexually multiple times, I know that you've got it in you."

Jackie rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Michael."

Fez looked at Kelso with pursed lips, "You don't have to start bringing that up again… And the answer is no, we haven't done it. We just had our first kiss last week."

Kelso shrugged, "So?"

"We want to take this slow," Jackie made clear, "We've only been together for a few weeks; it's way too soon to do that."

Fez turned to Jackie, "Wait, how soon? Too soon or… We'll wait a few more days soon?"

Jackie shook her head, "I was thinking more like a few more months even. Maybe even close to a year? It took me three years for Michael, and about a year for Steven."

Kelso was offended, "Wait, Hyde got to do it in a shorter time span than I did?"

"Michael, I was a sophomore when I lost my virginity to you… Of course, Steven got to do it sooner! I knew what to expect. I knew better."

Fez looked at Jackie, "Hopefully, I get it even sooner?" He twiddled his fingers.

Jackie just looked at him with her eyebrow raised. She really liked Fez, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to give her body to another man who probably wouldn't stick around. The gang was already always talking about how she's a slut for having dated Kelso and Hyde. Because this was something on her mind, she didn't bother to respond to avoid hurting his feelings.

A thought came into her mind, "Michael, how would you feel if some guy talked about Betsy the way you talk about having slept with me?" She tilted to her head to look at him and so that he got a good view of her.

Kelso just looked at her and blinked, "Well, Jackie, that wouldn't happen because I'm locking her away until she's sixty and can no longer have kids."

"What if she sneaks around on you like you and I did with my father?"

Kelso's fatherly instincts were starting to kick in with the topic of his daughter dating, "Then, I will lock her away in a chastity belt, because no man will ever touch her!" he yelled and stormed out of the basement.

Jackie and Fez started to laugh.

Fez took Jackie's hand and laughs, "It's funny to see how Kelso now reacts when people raise such hypotheticals."

Jackie nodded in agreement.

Fez smiles at Jackie and leans over to kiss her.

As he pulls away he asks her, "So you never answered my question about when we're going to do it."

Jackie really didn't want to answer, but it was getting brought up again.

"Fez, we've only been together for a short while and you have to understand that I can't just give myself so easily to another man."

"But, Jackie, I'm not just another man. I'm Fez."

Jackie shook her head at him, "It doesn't matter. You're still a man. It's not like it used to be, but I have a reputation to uphold as a woman. For men, it's different."

Fez backed away from her, "Do you think that I'm going to sleep with you and leave or tell everyone?"

Jackie shrugged, "I don't know, but based on everything already, you're already eager and bringing it up in front of our friends like it's already happened without even considering how uncomfortable I might be."

Fez nodded in understanding, "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself because you have to remember that I've been after you for years and you didn't acknowledge me until now so… This is a pretty big deal for me."

Suddenly Jackie felt bad, "I'm sorry too. Let's just take our time on it, okay?"

Fez nodded and put his arm around her and they continued to watch TV.

Kitty picks up a novelty peach as she is about to wrap it and put it away, "Bob, this is cute little novelty. Where did you get it?"

Bob smiled and made his way to Kitty, "Oh, I got that back in '65 when Midgie and I went to Georgia with Donna. It was a little family vacation during Spring Break."

Red furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Bob, "What's in Georgia?"

Bob shrugged, "Peaches."

"You went all the way to Georgia for peaches, Bob?"

"Yep, different kinds. It was a fun experience. They had nice fat and round ones. Delicious. I highly recommend it."

Kitty got excited hearing this, "Ooh! You just gave me a good idea. Red, we should go to Michigan and I can make my special peach cobbler with fresh Georgia peaches!" she cackled and clapped.

Bob nodded, "Yum. Be sure to send me a batch when you make it."

Kitty waved her hand at him, "Oh, Georgia is right there next to Florida. We might just come by you and make it at your new condo!"

Bob pat Kitty on the back, "Can't wait."

He walked away and went behind the bar, "Drinks?"

"Ooh," Kitty clapped and made her way to the bar, "White wine, please."

"Comin' right up," Bob smiled, "Red?"

"Scotch on the rocks."

Bob poured them their drinks and passed it to them.

"Oh, Red. I have a going-away gift I want to give you."

Red looked confused, "I'm not going anyway, Bob."

"Oh, I know. I meant I'm going away and giving you a gift."

"Then, that's not a going-away gift. That's just a gift."

Kitty rolled her eyes at Red's smart ass remarks towards Bob.

"Anyway," Bob pulled out a liquor behind the bar, "I want to give you this bottle."

Red looked at the bottle as Bob explained, "It's a bottle of liquor that Midgie and I got on our trip to Italy. We never got around to drinking it, but I thought I'd give it to you and you could split it with Kitty or save it for a special occasion."

Kitty looked at Bob, "That's awfully nice of you, Bob."

"Yeah, thank you, Bob."

Bob nodded.

Red smiled at Bob, "You know what? Bring out some glasses. I want to share this with you."

"Really?"

Red nodded as Bob pulled out three glasses and Red poured the liquor.

"To you, Bob. For putting up with my smart ass remarks and constantly making fun of you. You've been a good sport and I'll miss you."

Bob smiled and the three clinked their glasses.

Donna and Eric walked through the kitchen sliding doors of the Forman house and they both took a seat at the breakfast table.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Donna asked.

Eric clasped his hands together on the table, "Well, you're going away to Madison next week, and I said I would get a job out there to make this work."

Donna nodded, "Okay, it all sounds good on paper, but you need a job, Eric. I doubt your parents are going to pay for you to live in Madison."

"Well, I mean, Madison is a lot bigger than Point Place. They probably have more teaching jobs available than we do in Point Place."

Donna leans over to the kitchen counter and grabs the morning paper, "Okay, so find one right now."

Eric started to shuffle through the paper into the jobs available and put his finger onto the paper, skimming down the listings.

"Also, even if you find a job, where are you going to live?"

Without looking at Donna, Eric continued to skim, "Okay, Donna… One problem at a time."

"No, you want to be a part of my going-away to UW. You have to have a plan, Eric."

Eric nodded, "That's true. If anything, I should probably have an idea of where I'm going to live is."

He started to skim through the apartment listings.

"Oh, here's one. Studio apartment, utilities included, washer and dryer included in building, coin operated."

Donna leaned over to look, "Where's that one at?"

"Only a few blocks from the UW campus."

Looking at the address, Donna noticed something, "Oh, hey. It's right across the street from where I'm staying."

"Oh, your dorm is across the street from this?"

Donna looked around confused, "Uh, no. My _apartment_ is across the street from this."

Eric threw his hands up, "Donna, you're getting an apartment?"

Donna furrowed her eyebrows, "Yeah, why?"

"Well, then why don't I just live with you?"

She wasn't prepared for that and Eric didn't seem to understand or fathom what the face she made meant.

Donna backed away from the table and took a step back, "When did that become an option?"

Eric looked at Donna from the kitchen table, "Well, I mean… We were going to move in together last year when we were supposed to leave for UW together."

Donna crossed her arms and looked at Eric as if he were the biggest dummy, "Yeah, because we were engaged and supposed to be married, which you didn't show up for."

Eric got up, "Well, we could always go back to that stage. You're getting out of Point Place now. I won't feel guilty for being the reason for holding you back."

She could not believe the words that were coming out of his mouth, "Okay, Eric. Do you not get that you left me at the alter because of something that _you_ decided without consulting me? Then, you _broke up_ with me while you were in Africa _through a letter_ because you 'felt like it was best' for me. How can you not understand that I'm not ready to go back to 'that place' with you?"

"Donna, I'm sorry about what happened, but you have to understand that it was hard on me too."

"And you have to understand that I'm not ready to let myself be vulnerable with you again, Eric. You broke up with me because I wasn't ready to accept your promise ring and then you broke up with me because suddenly you decided you knew what was right for me."

Donna walked through the sliding doors and started heading back to her house as the Formans were coming back into their home.

Kitty and Red looked at Donna storming out and back at Eric.

Red glared at Eric, "What did you do?"

Kitty threw her hands up in the air, "Did you break up with her again? You just got back together!"

Eric started to get all twitchy and stuttery, "I didn't do anything!"

Red crossed his arms and looked at his dumbass son all-knowingly, "Yes, you did. What did you say?"

Eric threw his hands up, "Donna said she was going to UW so I proposed that I go with her."

Kitty looked at Eric and questioned, "And?"

"And I said that I would find a job in Madison so that I could be with her!"

Red rolled his eyes, "And?"

"And I proposed that we live together while there."

Red rolled looked up at the ceiling as if looking to God for help, "There it is."

Kitty shook her head at Eric, "You just got back from Africa after breaking up with her!"

"And you left her at the alter."

"And you broke up with her over a promise ring!"

Red and Kitty could go on with all the things he's done wrong and every reason why Donna is in the right for not wanting to reside with him, but they knew Eric was not going to get it.

"Okay!" Eric shouted defeatedly, "I get it. I messed up with her a lot within the past year, but I do want to be with her and I am in a better place now. I can get a better job, I can afford to take care of us, and I won't feel like I'm holding her back because now she's actually doing something she wants. I want to be able to show her that."

Kitty took a seat at the table and was more than ready to give Eric a good talking to on why he was wrong. Normally, she would defend him, but Donna has put up with a lot of Eric's antics over the years.

"Eric, you have put Donna through a lot through the years and she's given up quite a bit for you—"

"And every time, you disappointed her," Red chimed in.

Kitty put up a hand as a sign for Eric to ignore his father, "The point is, you're at the point where you have to regain Donna's trust. If you want to be in that place with her again, show her that you're in a better position to offer her those things without expecting anything in return."

"That means don't get her pregnant or expect her to get intimate with you, horn dog. I know you've been in Africa for a while and what a boy your age is thinking!" Red warned.

Eric stared blankly at his father, "That… Hasn't been on my mind, but yeah, I get what you mean."

Kitty patted the table three times like she always does when she made her point, and got up off the table towards the kitchen.

Red sat at his usual spot at the table on the far left and took the newspaper from Eric, "You better get what your mother means, because a girl like Donna is not going to wait around for you to shape up."

"Yes, sir."

Kitty chimed in from the kitchen as she sifted through a recipe book to decide what to cook for tonight, "And with her being at college, she'll have even more options, because she'll be out of this small town."

Eric turned to his mom, he was starting to panic and realize things, "You're right. Oh, my God. If I don't make Donna realize that I'm ready to be the man she always expected me to be, she'll end up with the guy from orientation named, Ted."

Kitty and Red looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, "What?" they both asked at the same time.

Realizing he was just having flashbacks, Eric waved it off, "Nothing."

Fez and Jackie were back in their apartment and they plopped down on their couch.

"It feels good to be home." Jackie sighed.

"Yes, first the New Year's Eve party at the Formans', and then we had to have early lunch with Eric today."

Jackie laughed and turned towards him, "Fez, we all met up at The Hub at 3 in the afternoon."

"It was still early. I need my nightly rest to keep these eyes without circles."

Jackie laughed again and smiled, "If you want, I can slice you some cucumbers. That will make them go away with some night cream too. I've got you."

Looking over at Jackie, Fez asked, "Is there any negotiation or possibility for sex being soon?"

Jackie looked at Fez and her smile disappeared, "Why are you on this again? I already told you, Fez. I don't feel ready for it… Is that all you care about?" she asked as she got up and put some distance between them so she could get a full view of Fez.

He got up and responded, "No! I understand why you want to wait, but you have to understand why I don't want to wait."

Jackie shook her head at him, "Forget it."

Jackie breezed into her room and slammed the door.

25


End file.
